Just because you’re a small business owner, doesn’t mean you have to “look” small to your customers. With online marketing tools and techniques, coupled with some of the more cost effective offline marketing – your company can look like a big company while being able to act like a small company. That means you are able to give great customer service!
Here’s how:
1. Advertise Like a Big Business: You still need to create brand loyalty and name recognition. You can afford to do that through your web presence, your social media strategy and your blogging. Be sure to always include value in each of your posts, tweets, and facebook messages – something that is interesting and relevant. Every once in awhile, also include an Read the rest of this entry »
I spent the majority of my early career as a director of marketing for a major telecommunications company. One of our major goals in life was customer satisfaction. Everything we did, from communication, to training the sales teams and customer service representatives, was all in the name of customer satisfaction.
Then I ran into a little book by Jeffrey Gitomer entitled, “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless!” It was subtitled, “Customer Loyalty is Priceless!” I have to say, I was stunned to think that customer satisfaction might indeed be worthless! Iwas always of the opinion that as business owners, our goal was customer satisfaction. That was before I read this book!
When you are providing a product or service to a customer, chances are she could get that same product or service somewhere else. Unless you have a distinctly unique shop, there are other places your customer can go and get pretty much the same thing.
We know, especially in today’s economy, that when people have disposable income to spend on things they want, rather than on what they need, the differentiator is customer preference. Yes, price has an impact – but by and large, people spend money based on personal preference. In fact, people will actually spend more to shop where they prefer.
As a business owner, what can you do to create the kind of buying experience that will help to make your customer Read the rest of this entry »
Small business owners should be proud of the fact that 54% of the economy in the United States is fueled by their efforts. It seems that we are hearing so much these days about how the huge companies are getting bail-outs, are acting without integrity, are looking out only for themselves instead of their customers…it’s enough to make you mad!
On the other hand, small businesses just keep plugging away, building the economy! How? By hiring one person at a time, greatly contributing to getting America back to work. Compared to large corporations, who treat people as numbers, when a small business owner has to lay-off an employee, (whom they know by name), its like losing a member of the family.
Believe it or not, the “experts” are saying the economy has shifted and the recovery is upon us. Some folks, like Zig Ziglar for example, have decided not to join the recession – and a lot of small businesses continue to employ strategies to keep them viable as well. Some businesses actually are growing in this difficult economy!
With Spring in the air, and the economy on the mend, it’s time to take stock of where you are and where you want to be?
Statistics say there are still 13.6 million small businesses that don’t have Read the rest of this entry »
Just because you’re a small business owner, doesn’t mean you have to “look” small to your customers. With online marketing tools and techniques, coupled with some of the more cost effective offline marketing – your company can look like a big company while being able to act like a small company. That means you are able to give great customer service!
